I played Myst · 6:31pm Jan 1st, 2021
A game with no threats.
It's fascinating how a game with no real threat throughout the game can still be so gripping. The game is a point and click puzzle game and let's you freely explore and solve the puzzles. There's no set order to solve the puzzles, no railroading to speak of. You can freely roam and do whatever.
This also means that once you know the final puzzle you can beat the game from the beginning. The current speed run world record is 37.586 SECONDS held by South Korean player plank.
While you can beat the game through memorization the real charm are in the worlds the game builds.
You start on the docks and are given no direction from there. You explore and find the library near by. So many burned books.
There are two books that seem alright, and upon opening either you see a static screen. But it's not just an image, there's a person in each book. Pages matching the colors of the books have been torn out and as you return them you learn more about them, they talk to you as you progress. Telling you about themselves, and their brother.
They try to turn you against the other, after all, you're their only chance at freedom. You have to save them.
But it's not just from what they say that you learn about them , there are journals in the worlds you visit that tell you about them. Neither is an angel, and you gradually learn about who they both are. They are both the worst that the other describes.
They destroyed the books, from the inside out. (This game would probably trigger Twilight with the book abuse.)
And their punishment is to be trapped in their own books. Unable to leave. But they're not the only ones here. There is one more, their father, trapped in his own book.
There are three failure end scenarios, and one victory scenario. You need to weigh your choices and pay attention.
This games takes the line "Books are doorways to other worlds" literally. That's how you get to the other worlds. You find an intact book and step inside.
The graphics of the game, while dated, are still very nice and hold up well. The puzzles are a challenge and not always in the same kind of format. Clues in the environment and in writing in books. You have to pay attention and logic this game through. Or get a walk through.
The scenery is amazing. How different each area is, even on the main island, and yet fit together so well. Nothing was really jarring, but rather a delight to find. And their use of the scenery to give hints for the puzzles was wonderful. Seeing a picture of the puzzle to even realize it's there was interesting. Showing you what it looked like solved (or in the process of) and you have to mentally work backwards to find the location and then hunt around/experiment for the solution.
The sound design is also impressive. I don't recall much music but the background noise really created an enveloping atmosphere. The quiet (but not silence) really hammering home that you're alone. At times it could be eerie, at times peaceful.
This game hits a lot of good points, and one of my favorite memories about the game was sitting around the computer with my family as we all examined the scene/clue and working ourselves to solve it together. It got a lot of co-operative play for being a single player game.
This is a great game to give your mind a good stretch. Playing it years later I had to figure it all out again and really enjoyed the experience. I think it's on Steam (I just used my old CD Rom to play it) and could be well worth checking out.
If you enjoyed Myst, I strongly recomend you play Riven.
5426737
Yeah, I remember asking for that one so often when I was younger. I would like to get Riven sometime, and even the Myst book series.